The End of the Merman
by Doll Girl
Summary: AU to the Rescue Movie. Don't own anybody. The Merman's story finally ends.


AN: This is an alternate ending that I thought of. Sort of a different reason why they returned to the island.

The former castaways screamed when GIlligan was dragged from the boat with a gun to his head. The two Russians were using him as a human shield so the FBI wouldn't fire!

When they got about halfway down the dock Gilligan tried to fight back and he began to slow them down. One of them yanked off the disk while the other shot him in the side of the head! When he fell the second man shot him two more times before the FBI shot him and his buddy!

The castaways gathered around their fallen friend and the Professor immediately jumped into doctor mode. "Gilligan? Gilligan look at me!" With shaky hands he felt for a pulse.

"Professor?" Skipper asked fearfully.

Roy bowed his head. "He's gone," he said in a shaky voice.

The Skipper fell to his knees staring into the lifeless blue eyes of his first mate. Mary Ann and Ginger screamed in grief and the Howells cried out their heartbreak as they hung onto each other.

Tears fell from the captain's eyes as he put his hand over Gilligan's face and closed his eyes before pulled his best friend to him and cradling him. "Gilligan no...Little Buddy don't don't do this to me...to all of us! Come back! Oh God please come back!" Skipper begged as he held on tight getting blood all over his clothes and not caring.

The Professor swallowed. "After everything he's been through and survived...If I had known what the disk was I'd have destroyed it instead of giving it to him!"

The EMTs came and the castaways instinctively gathered around to protect Gilligan. A newspaper journalist shot a picture of the scene before he was ushered away.

When Gilligan was taken away the FBI whisked the castaways away to their office in Honolulu and put them in a conference room. Then, in a show of compassion, they shut all the blinds before leaving to let them grieve.

The remaining six sat in silence for several minutes digesting what had just happened. Their hearts were broken.

Mr Howell swallowed. "Skipper...I can contact his parents…"

"No," Skipper said clenching his hands. "We're his family."

Roy frowned. "What about his friends? The ones he was always talking about?"

The captain sighed. "Grant Mulligan, Skinny's real name. Only one that really understood him."

Mrs Howell wiped her eyes with her handkerchief. "The poor boy didn't deserve this!"

"No Lovey he didn't. We're going to honor him in some way," the millionaire said looking at the Skipper. "Skipper?"

"Cremation and then...then we'll take him to the sea where he belongs," the old sailor said breath hitching.

They all nodded.

After a moment an agent came in. "First off I'm really sorry about your loss. The Bureau will handle funeral arrangements and anything else you need. The spies have confessed to everything and will never see the light of day again."

They only nodded.

"Mr Hinkley would you mind telling us all you know about the disk? Where did you find it?"

"I didn't. Gilligan did. I had no idea what it was but it worked in getting us rescued." He swallowed. "We were better off living the rest of our lives on the island."

The agent looked at each sad face and sighed. "Go home all of you."

The Howells took them to their Hawaiian mansion but the beauty and grandeur was lost on all of them.

Mr Howell called over a butler and told him to pour some alcohol for everyone, scotch for the men and wine for the women as they sat out on the big porch facing the ocean.

Roy sighed. "I missed him this past year. I...had a student that reminded me of him at the university. I told him about Gilligan and his fighting spirit. His grades went up."

"Hollywood made me miss his sweet nature," Ginger said wiping her eyes with her handkerchief.

Mary Ann cried into her own handkerchief. "There's no one else like him in the whole wide world."

The Skipper shut his eyes in overwhelming sadness. "I don't know what I'm gonna do without him." He swallowed. "We struggled this entire year. It was great at first. He went back to Pennsylvania for a few days before coming back early. When I asked what had happened he said that he'd been completely disowned and told that they were better off without him."

The other castaways stared at him in absolute horror.

Roy got up and paced in agitation. "Gilligan asked if he could learn from me. He wanted to be taught and I enjoyed teaching him. Kids today want their grades handed to them on a silver platter! I can't tell you how many times I've gotten reprimanded for failing a student because they didn't do the work and didn't show up but because he was an athlete I had to give him a free pass! On top of that the university wanted me to be their celebrity! They didn't care about my research! They don't want me to teach them anything!" He stopped and looked out at the deep blue water. "Gilligan cared about ME." He shut his eyes. "I still have that Nobel Prize he made me. I'd take it out when I got back to my apartment. I'd be reminded of the one student that I loved as a brother." He felt Ginger's arms go around him. "I want to go home."

Mary Ann nodded. "I do too. Lets take him home."

Skipper nodded. "We don't know where it is though. I couldn't find it. It was never on any maps."

"Gilligan will lead us there," Mr Howell said softly. "The moment we get the ashes we'll send a letter Mr Mulligan. Then we'll board the Minnow II and just sail."

They all nodded in agreement.

It took a few days but they were given Gilligan's ashes and personal effects. They all packed their bags and boarded the boat.

When Skipper got to the helm he grabbed the steering wheel and pulled out Gilligan's white hat that he had given him what felt like a lifetime ago. "Lead us home Little Buddy."

As they sailed Mary Ann held Gilligan's urn close to her chest. Ginger sat with her. The Howells held each other's hands well aware of what they were leaving behind for good...by choice this time.

Roy felt his eyes water as he shakingly pulled out a familiar book of stories that they had all written for Gilligan to help him heal after the hunt. He opened it and it took him a second to realize that Gilligan had taken very good care of it. The letters must have been retraced a hundred times to keep them from fading away. He reread his own tale remembering when he had first told the story to a frightened Gilligan in the supply hut. By the time he was finished his emotions overwhelmed him.

"Everyone come quick! You gotta see this!"

The Skipper's voice echoed down to them and they ran up to see what was wrong.

What they saw made their jaws drop! A dolphin was swimming, jumping, and splashing alongside the boat. It chittered as it used it's tail to kick across the water looking like it was standing up!

To their amazement they looked into it's eyes and saw that they were a deep blue.

Skipper gulped! "G-Gilligan…?"

The dolphin chittered before doing a flip in the air and landing on the boat!

The castaways ran over to it. The Professor checked it for injuries before looking into the creatures gentle eyes. "You know the way?"

The dolphin nodded.

They looked at each other before smiling tearfully and nodding.

He was put back into the water and Skipper followed after he dolphin.

They arrived at their island at sundown and Skipper took them to the lagoon. Once the boat was beached they got off and looked at the water.

The dolphin floated for a moment to the shore and when the castaways pet him he nuzzled them as if to say goodbye and that everything would be alright. He touched his nose to the urn.

"My Little Buddy send you?" Skipper asked.

The dolphin nodded.

Roy swallowed. "Thank you."

They watched as the dolphin swam away and all of them felt comforted and close to their friend. They held their own funeral and decided to honor him with one last merman story.

_'__The Merman lived out the rest of his life in the cove happily switching from merman to human often. He was loved and cared for._

_One day a band of pirates caught and killed the merman before bringing him on shore to try to sell his body for a high price. The king and queen were outraged and ordered the pirates captured and killed._

_The Captain and his crew grieved as they built a casket. Raina and Corla dressed him in fine clothes._

_The wizard mourned as he used his magic to preserve the body and create a statue to be put on the rock the merman always sat on._

_The royals had a plaque made and a memorial was set up for all to see. The town was bathed in black in mourning._

_For years the legend of the merman was told for generations and the merman was kept alive through the stories told but the six that knew him best.'_

Roy's hand shook as he wrote the final words. "The End". "Be at peace Merman…"

They burned the story and put the ashes in with Gilligan's They couldn't burn the book though. It meant far too much to them.

Then, as the sun set over the horizon and the sky was alight with colors, they each took a hand full of ash and said goodbye to their beloved Gilligan. The Skipper then poured out the rest and they watched as the wind carried it away.

They spent that night under the stars thinking and talking about their friend. Eventually they all fell asleep.

None of them saw the small glow that appeared at the edge of the water before taking on a form. The form became more distinctive of a red shirt, light blue pants, and white tennis shoes. The face materialized into that of a young man in his early twenties with bright blue eyes and brown hair topped with a white sailor cap.

Gilligan smiled as he went over and sat by them, guarding them as they had so often done for him. He was their guardian now. He would keep them safe and make sure they lived in peace. He had replenished all the fresh water. He had regrown Mary Ann's garden. He had gotten rid of dangerous insects and spiders. He had turned the island into a peaceful home for his friends. They didn't know it but he had even put the camp back together to the way it was.

In various ways he would let them know he was there. He would let them know he had never truly left them. He couldn't. They were all bonded together and Gilligan would make sure that the bonds remained unbroken.

He kept his vigil all throughout the night and when morning began to break he got up and went into the lagoon. Once he was chest deep he turned and smiled at his family before going underwater.

His tail splashed the water waking up the Skipper and Professor. They stared at the form they saw swimming away before vanishing. They looked at each other before looking at the book. They then exchanged tearful smiles in realization.

Gilligan...the merman...was finally free.


End file.
